mashable.com

10% Of Americans Make ‘Impulse’ Text Donations

Sites include mashable.com. Published on January 31st, 2012. Written by Daniel Renfro.

When hearing the phrase “impulse decision” this usually means a negative, rash decision was made and has a negative view. However this is not always the case as some impulse decisions can be positive when people go with their gut or on a whim. According to a recent study 1 in 10 Americans have made donations via text messages and not just a donation but a donation made on impulse. This says a lot about how with the ease and convenience of technology people are able to make impulse decisions for the good, like making charitable donations, or for the bad like a drunk text to an ex.

“The Pew Research Center surveyed the response time for donations that came in via text message in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Three quarters (73%) of people surveyed who donated made their contribution the same day they heard about the campaign.

And 76% said they do little research before making the donation.

There are some major pluses to donating via text. No snail mailing checks or waiting on hold while you call-in to make a contribution. The speed at which money can come pouring into relief efforts with text donations could have a major impact on the recovery efforts, possibly helping solutions be implemented quicker.

Those who were surveyed for this study gave to the “Text for Haiti” campaign, which was promoted by Michelle Obama in a public service announcement shortly after the quake.”

It will be interesting to see how this number of impulse donations increases or possibly decreases over time with the prevalence of technology and the convenience it brings. This does show that technology does have some good benefits for not just the individual but for communities, countries, and people going through hard times.